Atlantic City mayor running for state Senate

AP Photo/Press of Atlantic City / Danny DrakeAtlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford addresses the League of Municipalities delegates in the Crown Ballroom of the Sheraton Atlantic City in this 2008 file photo. The mayor has just announced he is running for state senate as an independent.

TRENTON —Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford has filed to run for state Senate as an independent.

He confirmed the decision in an interview today. Langford will be facing off with incumbent Democratic Sen. Jim Whelan and Republican Assemblyman Vince Polistina.

Langford, who was elected mayor in 2001, criticized Whelan as a "traitor" to Atlantic City.

"That's a view shared by many of my constituents here," he said.

Whelan did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment.

The two politicians have tangled in the past. Whelan served as Atlantic City mayor for more than a decade, fending off two challenges from Langford before losing to him in 2001.

Whelan later served two years in the Assembly before being elected to his current Senate seat in 2007.

Langford cautioned that he's still exploring a campaign and will decide by the end of the summer whether to push forward with his candidacy.

"In order to run a credible campaign, you're going to need to raise an adequate amount of funding," he said. "We'll need to gauge that as well."

And although he's confident of support from Atlantic City and Pleasantville, Langford said he needs to take the pulse of suburban voters.

Because of a law against holding two elected offices, Langford would need to give up the mayor's office if he won the Senate seat.

Polistina, an assemblyman since 2008, said Langford's run won't affect his campaign.